Best Ever Cinnamon Rolls

BEST EVER CINNAMON ROLLS — Huge fluffy cinnamon rolls with maple cream cheese frosting that stay soft for days. They really are the best ever!

I try not to exaggerate about the recipes I share on this blog, because I know the way a recipe turns out in my kitchen is not exactly the way it will turn out in your kitchen. And opinions on food are really a matter of…..well, opinion.

But these really are the Best Ever Cinnamon Rolls! Of course, just because I think something is the “best ever” doesn’t mean you will.

Having said that, I will tell you that I have tried MANY cinnamon roll recipes over the years (many of those also claiming to be the best ever) and I’ve never found one that I thought was special enough to share here.

Until now. Everyone in the family agreed. They were the best cinnamon rolls they’d ever had!

Of course, they do require a few hours of your time. But the best things in life take time.

They’re pretty big (yes, you really do bake 12 on a rimmed cookie sheet) but none of us has had trouble eating them.

The dough is just about perfect, and the rolls still taste soft and fresh the next day. The secret is not to add too much flour.

Your dough should be soft and slightly sticky without leaving too much residue on your fingers. And did I mention the maple cream cheese frosting?

I highly recommend covering cooled rolls with a paper towel and putting them in the microwave for 10-15 seconds. They taste like they just came out of the oven!

Be sure to save this Best Ever Cinnamon Rolls recipe to your favorite Pinterest board for later.

For the filling

For the frosting

4 ounces cream cheese, softened

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1 tablespoon pure maple syrup

Pinch of salt

2 cups powdered sugar

1/4 cup butter, softened

1 tablespoon milk, or as needed for consistency

Instructions

To make the dough, heat the milk in a medium saucepan until it is just simmering and bubbles being to form around the edge of the pan. Pour the milk into the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with the dough hook.

Add the butter, sugar and salt. Mix on low speed until the butter is melted. Let the mixture cool until warm but not hot. Add the yeast and eggs and mix until combined.

Gradually add the flour until the dough clears the sides of the bowl. The dough should be soft and slightly sticky. Knead for 2-3 minutes.

Transfer the dough to a large, lightly greased bowl. Cover with a clean kitchen towel or lightly greased plastic wrap and let rise until doubled, about one hour.

Roll the dough into a large rectangle, about 18×12 inches. Spread 1/2 cup softened butter over the dough.

Stir together the brown sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle over the dough. Pat it in slightly with the palms of your hands.

Starting with a long end, roll up the dough as tightly as possible, pinching the seam lightly to seal.

Using a serrated knife, cut the roll in half. Then cut each half in half again (forming four equal portions). Cut each of the four portions into three rolls – twelve cinnamon rolls total.

Place the rolls evenly spaced on a large, parchment-lined, rimmed baking sheet . If the ends have come free, carefully tuck them under the cinnamon roll. Cover and let rise until double.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Bake the cinnamon rolls for 18-22 minutes until light golden brown. Let the rolls cool for about 10 minutes before frosting.

For the frosting, in a large bowl, whip together the cream cheese and butter. Add the vanilla, maple and salt and mix until combined.

Gradually add the powdered sugar (if you add it all at once, be prepared for a huge snowstorm in your kitchen) and mix until thick and creamy. Add cream or milk a tablespoon at a time until the frosting is smooth and spreadable to your liking. Spread the cinnamon rolls with frosting.

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Who Dished It Up First: For some great tips and more photos of the process, I highly recommend checking out the original recipe over at Mel’s Kitchen Cafe. The bread recipes she shares never fail me, and this is no exception.

These turned out amazing.. Very fluffy and soft.. But I needed to add more flour, around 2 cups more.. For the frosting I didn’t put maple syrup, and I added half a cup cream with the milk, it was very silky.. These are really the best rolls I tried

I haven’t tried it Jenna, but I think it would work. I’d say put them in the fridge before the second rise. Then you might have to let them sit at room temp for a short time to finish rising in the morning. Let me know how it goes!

Thank you for the fantastic recipe! I made them this Christmas and last year also. I do wrap the rolls tightly in foil at the rising stage and put them overnight in the fridge, then remove from fridge and let rise, covered, for 2 hours before baking. They came out perfectly. My family loves them!!

This recipe does sound yummy. Just a couple of questions though. What type of flour do you use? AP, Bread, Pastry? Also, what is you flour measuring technique? Scoop and level, spoon in and level? I look forward to trying these out. Thanks Marcy

I know you posted this recipe some years ago but I tried it yesterday after finding it on Pinterest. The rolls were big, fluffy and delicious. I doubled the icing because who doesn’t love more icing and they were gone in 24 hours. Thank you for sharing. They are going to be a Gorman family favorite for sure!

Most likely your liquid was either too cold, or too hot. You want it to be somewhere between 95°F and 115°F, so if you’re not sure, I’d suggest using a kitchen thermometer to check. Or your yeast was expired.

HELP! I’m still learning how to use the Kitchen Aid mixer for yeast dough – and I’m still learning how to work with Yeast recipes. I’ve been baking for years, but I’m sliding in late on yeast/dough recipes! : ) In step 3, it says to let the dough clear the bowl and then it says to kneed the dough for 2 minutes. I’m assuming I continue mixing it in the bowl with the dough hook for an additional 2 minutes – am I correct, or do you take the dough out to hand knead the dough for 2 minutes? Any tips or suggestions for knowing when your dough is ready to remove from the bowl is helpful. Thank you so much! I am DETERMINED to try and try again until I master the perfect dough recipes! : )

I take the dough out of the mixer and kneed it just a few minutes longer by hand. Mostly because I think it’s easiest to tell if you have the dough right by feeling it. I always aim for a dough that is quite soft, but not sticky. Too much flour will always make yeast dough tough and dense, so when my dough has just enough flour that it doesn’t stick to my hands, but is still soft, that’s when it’s ready. You may or may not need to add additional flour as you kneed, but I find it’s better to remove it from the bowl while it’s still on the sticky side and add any additional flour by hand. Even if I add all the necessary flour in the mixer, I always take it out and kneed it for a minute or two to make sure it feels right to me.

Thank you SO much for the tips and clarification! I really appreciate the time that you took to get back to me! Learning is SO much more fun when you have other women who are encouraging and willing to help one another, isn’t it? : ) I have baked for many years, and I’ve even baked several cinnamon roll recipes, but I’ll take all the tips and pointers I can get when it comes to learning techniques with yeast dough. Thank you again. Have a blessed week! Cris

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Uptown foodie meets real life at Let’s Dish, where I share all my favorite recipes. I keep artisan vinegar in the pantry and a tub of Cool Whip in the freezer. That’s what “uptown foodie meets real life” is all about — making meal time easy, but doing it in style.